2 min readApr 9, 2026 10:15 PM IST
Brazil fast bowler Laura Cardoso on Thursady became the first player to take nine wickets in a T20 International. She accomplished the feat in a match against Lesotho in the Kalahari Women’s T20 International tournament, returning figures of 9/4 in three overs as Lesotho were bowled out for just 13 runs in reply to Brazil’s 202/8. She is the first to achieve the feat across men’s or women’s T20Is.
The previous record belonged to Bhutan’s male left-arm spinner, Sonam Yeshey, who had figures of 8 for 7 against Myanmar last year. Indonesia’s off spinner Rohmalia Rohmalia held the record in women’s cricket – she had taken figures of 7/0 against Mongolia in April 2024.
Cardoso’s efforts helped Brazil beat Lesotho by a whopping 189 runs, which is third highest margin of victory by runs in T20Is, according to ESPNCricinfo. Wicketkeeper Monnike Machado’s unbeaten 41-ball 59 and a 35-ball 48 by Roberta Avery earlier helped Brazil past the 200-run mark.
Cardoso’s first over was the second of the Lesotho innings and she secured a hat-trick with wickets off her fourth, fifth and sixth deliveries. She bowled the next two overs on the trot and took the rest of the nine wickets she accounted for. Cardoso took four more wickets in the space of five balls in the fourth over and then two more wickets in the sixth.
Cardoso looked to be on track to becoming the first bowler to take 10 wickets in a T20I innings. However, it was not to be with Marianne Artur, bowling the very next over after Cardoso’s last, had the last batter out stumped off the second ball.
The record for best figures in T20Is across men’s and women’s cricket for matches between two ICC Full Member nations is held by India’s Deepak Chahar, who recorded figures of 6/7 in November 2019 against Bangladesh. The women’s record in that parameter is held by ew Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite, who registered 6/17 against England in 2007.
